Liquor license approved for 'sandwich shop' in Marriott hotel

PEORIA — The new Courtyard by Marriott in Downtown Peoria probably won’t have a full-service restaurant. Then again, it probably doesn’t need one.

A snack bar called the Bistro is likely to be the main food source in the 116-room hotel set to open later this year, one of its builders said Monday.

“I would call it a sandwich shop,” Monte Brannan said following a Peoria Liquor Commission meeting. “No tablecloths, probably. No waitresses.”

The Bistro is to feature a counter of about six stools, according to Mark Hoffman, director of design and construction for EM Properties, the East Peoria-based developer of the hotel. Adjacent tables are to seat about 50 to 60 people.

Customers would place their orders at the counter, then pick them up when they’re ready. Hamburgers and similar short orders are to be the focus.

“It’s more an urban design, for a downtown environment,” Hoffman said about a concept common in Courtyards. “They’ve put a little twist into this one and added more flair, more seating, because there’s more people in this area.”

If famished hotel guests want something more substantial, they can go next door to the Marriott Pere Marquette, Brannan said. Table 19, a comprehensive restaurant, is located there.

EM Properties also developed the Pere Marquette, which reopened last year after a renovation. That building and the Courtyard are to be linked by an atrium that includes a skywalk connection across Fulton Street to the Peoria Civic Center.

The new hotel is expected to open in June or July, according to Brannan. The initial projection was May.

“I would say the weather has definitely hampered us,” Brannan said about a winter that seems to be without end.

The commission approved the new hotel for liquor service in the Bistro and in a second-floor meeting room. The Bistro is to serve only beer and wine, Brannan said.

Commissioners and interim city attorney Sonni Williams appeared concerned about how the Courtyard-Pere Marquette atrium might result in alcohol purchased at one site being transported to the other. Current city codes do not permit that, Williams said.

Signs are likely to be erected in each hotel warning against the practice.

“Finish in one place, go to the next and reorder,” commission Chairman Drew Cassidy said with a laugh.

Nick Vlahos can be reached at 686-3285 or nvlahos@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @VlahosNick.